Tenants asking to not pay rent this month

glentoran99

HB can also be paid direct to you the landlord, perhaps you should be looking at that going forward

Errata

ifeelsad wrote: »

This might be the problem. He did say that going forward, the fact he now has a better, more regular, job will mean that payments will be on time etc.

I'm going to call the council to ask about the tenants status in terms of benefits.

They won't tell you anything. Why would they?

ifeelsad

You're right that they wouldn't tell me anything. Even if the tenant is consistently paying late or not paying.

Once they are 8 weeks in arrears I can request they pay me directly, but not before then

LEJC

the tenant is decorating...have you seen what they are planning to do and do you agree with it?
I understand your comment for example about a child wanting a childs room and thats fine but what happens when this set of tenants move out and you are left with a childs bedroom ...is that not going to limit or put your next set of tenants off...


Whilst I can understand thay magnolia is bland,its also a very good basis for universal tenancies and I cant help thinking that perhaps you are going to end up having to redecorate back to neutral once this set of tenants have left.
so in my opinion it should be rent payable over money used to "enhance " something for their benefit which you will have to neutralise when they vacate.

G_M

1) They are asking the P*ss.

2) Communicate only formally, by letter.

3) A free month? no way.

4) Agree to defer this months rent? Well:
a) that's a judgement call: relationship maintenance Vs cashflow
b) you may have no choice, if they don't pay!

5) Fixed Term tenancy till Nov 2016?
a) is there a Break Clause in the contract? If so, consider using it, get rid, and find reliable tenants
b) if not, you cannot end the tenancy except via a S8 Notice

6) S8 Notice
a) if arrears = 2 months rent use a S8 ground 8, evict and find reliable tenants
b) if arrears are less, consider using a S8 grounds 10 and/or 11
see Schedule 2 (17 S8 Grounds a LL can use)

* Make a log showing each occassion rent has been late, how much £ involved, and how many days late
* send to tenants as a warning
* make clear in writing that you never agreed to pay for the redecoration. Your consent to the redecoration was based on them bearing the cost, and completing the work to a satisfactory standard
* make sure they understand the potential consequences of late or non-payment.

You need to decide just how much slack you want to give them. On the one hand
* evicting means costs (courts, void period, marketing etc) but hopefully you then end up with a more reliable tenant (not guaranteed!)
* keeping them means ongoing hassle and late payment for the next 18 months......

Jagraf

They are effectively keeping your money. What makes them think that they are struggling more than you? I am all for landlords doing their job, but really, tenants who think they can choose whether to pay their bills or not?

Even if they believe they need stuff doing or have paid for stuff, that is a separate issue x

RAS

ifeelsad wrote: »

This is the third late payment since November

And how many late payment prior to that?

ifeelsad

LEJC wrote: »

the tenant is decorating...have you seen what they are planning to do and do you agree with it?
I understand your comment for example about a child wanting a childs room and thats fine but what happens when this set of tenants move out and you are left with a childs bedroom ...is that not going to limit or put your next set of tenants off...


Whilst I can understand thay magnolia is bland,its also a very good basis for universal tenancies and I cant help thinking that perhaps you are going to end up having to redecorate back to neutral once this set of tenants have left.
so in my opinion it should be rent payable over money used to "enhance " something for their benefit which you will have to neutralise when they vacate.

They have gone over the planned changes with us. They want to stay there long term (they said 5 years at least) and if I was in a house for that length of time I'd want to make some small changes. After the end of a tenancy I'd expect to repaint it, so I have no problems freshening it up either for new tenants or for selling.

G_M that super helpful. Thanks.
Just for clarification, there is no way we would ever give them a free month.

There isn't a break clause unfortunately and like you say evicting costs money, and I may not be any better off in the long term anyway. What I want ideally is just for them to sort themselves out and pay me rent on time.

I'm hoping that if I let them know that I am expecting this months rent asap, and that I expect next months (and every one after that) to be paid in full and on time, then they will keep up to date.

I will wait and see if my communications result in the current rent being paid, and if not then follow your advice about giving them a warning.

dktreesea

Section 8/21 takes too long. Can't you go through the High Court instead? Immediate possession, and eviction, and you get the contents to cover the arrears if the tenants don't pay up everything they owe you straight away.


Stop being so nice about it. You need tenants who pay. They're not. Oh yes, and I agree with the poster who wrote if they are claiming housing benefit and you haven't received it, you need to let the council know. They take a very dim view of that kind of thing.

ifeelsad

RAS wrote: »

And how many late payment prior to that?

They were dealing with the letting agents before that and in that year, there was one late payment. However on this occasion the tenant called me and explained why they weren't paying the agent, which was because the letting agents had taken money off me for repairs but weren't carrying them out and so the woman was left with a 2 week old baby and a toilet that wouldn't flush for 2 weeks, despite repeated phone calls to the agents and they were very annoyed with the agents for this.

I told them to pay their rent anyway, and to get a plumber themselves and that I would reimburse it, which they/I did.

That's one of the reasons we stopped using the agent